SAN DIEGO - AT&T?s message to the FCC during its keynote address at CTIA was clear: If it ain?t broke, don?t fix it.

The AT&T executive listed all of the reasons he believes that the United States? wireless industry is the best in the world. And while he was respectful of the FCC, the carrier representative did not conceal the fact that he was against any further regulation of the wireless industry.

?The U.S. is the most vibrant, the most innovative and the most competitive wireless market in the world,? said Ralph de la Vega, president/CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumers Markets, as well as the incoming chairman of CTIA?s board. ?I?ve read the FCC?s recent broadband status report and its letter of inquiry into the wireless industry, and we have to be careful when we deal with the most vibrant market in the world.

?The cycle of innovation is working as part of a free enterprise system in the U.S., and if the government imposes regulation on a market that?s working, it could affect jobs, the viability of existing business models and that very engine of innovation,? he said. ?We?re very pleased that the FCC commissioner wants to listen to us, but it should be the customers who assess value and they should pick the winners and losers.

?We have a strong, thriving industry that is innovative and open?let?s keep it that way.?

AT&T is the No. 2 carrier in the U.S. based on number of subscribers.

Mr. de la Vega announced that he had informed the FCC that AT&T had reevaluated its position on VoIP for the iPhone, and that Apple could now enable VoIP to run on AT&T?s wireless network.

In addition, Mr. de la Vega said that he commended the FCC?s fact-based approach to investigating the wireless industry, and went on to list various facts that support his case for no new regulations.

Fact 1: the U.S. is the most competitive least concentrated wireless market among the world?s developed countries. He claims that the U.S. has more carriers than any other country, including four national carriers and 173 regional, local and specialty carriers.

Mr. de la Vega also said that 95 percent of U.S. consumers have 3 or more providers/carriers to choose from.

Fact 2: U.S. customers consume almost twice as many minutes as the next closest country, and they pay the lowest effective cost based on revenue per minute used, which is $0.05, according to AT&T.

?The U.S. wireless industry is delivering the best value in the world,? Mr. de la Vega said.

Fact 3: innovation in the U.S. gives customers great choices. They can select from 630 devices manufactured by 30-plus companies, 84 percent of which are Web-enabled, with 89 percent data-capable.

U.S. mobile consumers will download more than 800 million this year, a nine-fold increase over two years, leapfrogging Japan to become the No. 1 marketplace for applications in the world, according to Strategy Analytics.

Fact 4: the U.S. is well positioned for the next wave of wireless growth. The emerging device market taking off and will be a $90 billion business by 2013, according to AT&T.

?Mobile business applications, including machine-to-machine functionality, will improve business productivity and efficiency, something our country sorely needs in these challenging economic times,? Mr. de la Vega said.

Fact 5: U.S. carriers have made massive investments, to date $130 billion over the last 5 years and $20 billion in 2008 despite the economic downturn.

?To maintain this vibrant ecosystem well into the future requires a tremendous amount of investment, which in turn requires certainty in the rules that governs the industry,? Mr. de la Vega said. ?Rules should not change after the bidding for spectrum is complete.

?Without this certainty, how can we expect companies to invest in spectrum, the lifeblood of our industry?? he said.

Mr. de la Vega stressed the fact that the wireless industry is vital for the overall U.S. economy, and that its importance will only increase going forward.

?What?s at stake is 2.4 million American jobs, $19 billion in taxes and fees, and $860 billion in productivity,? Mr. de la Vega said. ?The wireless industry is growing five times faster than the overall economy.

?We believe in and support an open Internet and one that is free of burdensome regulations,? he said. ?The wireless industry in the U.S is thriving, so let?s not do anything to change that.?